India, UAE deepen defence cooperation at high-level meeting in New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 30: India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral defence ties at the 13th Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting held in New Delhi on July 30, 2025. For the first time, the meeting was held at the Secretary level, co-chaired by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and UAE’s Under Secretary of Defence, Lt General Ibrahim Nasser M. Al Alawi, who is leading a high-level delegation on a two-day official visit to India. Both sides agreed to align defence cooperation with the growing momentum in trade, investment, and people-to-people ties. Key outcomes included plans to expand military training cooperation, with India offering customised training modules tailored to UAE’s requirements. The two nations also committed to enhancing maritime security through real-time information sharing.

Discussions explored new avenues of collaboration in defence industrial partnerships, joint manufacturing, and emerging technologies.

Notably, both sides reviewed the ICOMM-CARACAL partnership on small arms and discussed co-development of next-generation defence technologies, including Artificial Intelligence. Opportunities in shipbuilding, upgrades, and maintenance of shared platforms were also on the agenda. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Indian Coast Guard and the UAE National Guard to boost cooperation in search and rescue, pollution response, anti-piracy, and other maritime security areas.

Ahead of the JDCC meeting, India and the UAE conducted a series of Service-to-Service Staff Talks: the 4th Army-to-Army, 9th Navy-to-Navy, and inaugural Air-to-Air talks, focusing on exercises, training, and expert exchanges. The UAE delegation is also scheduled to meet Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth on July 31 and will participate in the 2nd India-UAE Defence Industry Partnership Forum. India’s participation in the Dubai Air Show in November 2025 is expected to give further impetus to the growing strategic defence partnership, which has expanded significantly since the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was established in 2015.